Baltic Dry Index? Thom Hartmann and Ravi Batra are talking about this leading to a Depression.....

[marmar]

:scared: I'd never heard of it before.



Mitsui O.S.K. Declines After Slump in Baltic Index (Update2)

By Chris Cooper

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., operator of Japan's largest fleet of iron-ore ships, fell for a third day in Tokyo after the Baltic Dry Index declined to a six-year low.

The shipping line dropped 12.5 percent to 407 yen as of the close of trading in Tokyo today, adding to the stock's 71 percent decline this year. Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's largest shipping line by sales, fell 8 percent to 382 yen and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. slid 9 percent.

The Baltic index, a measure of commodity-shipping rates, tumbled 5.9 percent yesterday to the lowest since September 2002 as a money-market freeze curbed traders' ability to purchase cargoes on credit. The price of chartering capesize ships to carry coal, iron-ore and other commodities in the daily spot market has fallen 79 percent this month.

``Investors are worried about a global recession,'' said Takuya Osaka, an analyst in Tokyo at Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co. ``In the spot market shipping lines can't make money.''

Osaka yesterday slashed his target price for Mitsui O.S.K. to 910 yen from 1,800 yen, he said.

Hanjin Shipping Co., South Korea's largest sea-cargo carrier, dropped 14.9 percent to 11,400 won in Seoul trading.

STX Pan Ocean Co. fell 16 Singapore cents, or 18.7 percent, to 69.5 cents in Singapore trading.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601209&sid=aXS2HuzzM0Wg

[trof]

1. I check it from time to time.

I have some shares of Nordic American Tanker (NAT) which does not carry dry cargo. They have a fleet of oil tankers.
Pay a hell of a dividend quarterly.
The stock price tends to follow the Baltic to some degree, but not nearly as much up and down.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I just learned those 3 words last week.

Implications are not good.
This is why people were warning of food shortages here.
Good lord, Wal-marts might be affected.....eeeiiihh

[Uncle Joe]

3. It all goes back to the felonious five and the selection of 2000

as the fundamental undermining of the people's faith or confidence in critical governmental institutions to do the right thing. I believe 9/11 only served to camouflage this lack of confidence in the nation's leadership for a period of time as the people desperately wanted to rally around a leader during time of crisis.

The court took the people's voice away in 2000, the people then felt helpless as a result and depression inevitably follows or is accompanied by feelings of helplessness.

[T_i_B]

4. It doesn't lead to a depression....BUT

it does show that the Shipping business does have issues with falling demand in the economy. Hence less containers to ship and freight rates being cut to try and stimulate demand for ocean freight. The index just shows that the global economy is in bad shape and what it's doing to the shipping trade.

The trouble is that Bunker Ajustment Factor (ie fuel surcharge) is way over the freight rate, and then there's Currency Adjustment Factor as well. The headline freight rate is not the whole story.